Vegetable washer



^ Aug. l2, 1930. Y A. G. suELFLowET AL 1,772,880

VEGETABLE WASHER Filed Jan, 2s, 1928 2 sheets-sheet 1 .W Z Z PatentedAug. 12, 1930 .ALFRED G.

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SUELFLOW' AND CHARLES C. 'WOJFOR'D, OF- MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, AS-

vSIGd'OlES 'IO THE FELINS TYING MACHINE 00;, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSINVEGETABLE 'W'ASHER Application filed January 23, 1928. Serial No.248,644.

provide a novel form of'vegetable washing machine in which an improvedscrubbing action is secured, in which a plu-ralityjof cylindricalbrushes are carried by each shaft, and in which each ofthe brushes -isindividually adjustable.

Further objects are to provide a vegetable washing machine in which asmall sized casing is all that is required, in which an upper and lowershield project outwardly from the 2o casing'and thus do not increase thedepth of the casing, in which means are provided for separatingdislodged Amaterial, and keeping it from returning to the brushes.

' Further objects are toY provide Va vegetable washing machine in whicha small amount of water is permitted to constantly reach the brusheswhile in operation, but which avoids the churning up of the entirevolume of water employed by the machine. l

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure l is a front elevation partlyin section of the machine with partsbroken away;

Figure 2 is a sectionalview on the line 2-2 of vFigure 1. i

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that-the machine comprises amain casing 1 provided lwithfan open bottom portion 2. This casing isrcut out or open at its front and is provided withan upper shield. plate3 and a lowershield plate 4c. Thesel shield plates are inwardly turned,vas is apparent from an inspection of the drawings Vand they terminateVadjacent the out out sides 5 of the machine.'

A. plurality of'iixed bearings 6 and 7 vsupport thehorizontal shafts 8and 9. yThese shafts are driven from ap-vertical shaft 10 by meansofbevel gearing and such shaft may be driven by reduction gearing from asmall electric motor 11 mounted on top of the casing.,

The shaftsS and 9 carry end spiders 12 which are` provided withhook-like ends, each equipped with a set screw 13 for a purposehereinafter to appear. These end spiders are spaced apart on the shaftsand it is to'be noted from Figures 1 and 2 that the shafts are furtherprovided with intermediate spiders 14 which are not equipped with theclamping set screws.

The hook-like portions ofthe spiders carry the trunnions or center stem15 of a plurality of cylindrical brushes 16. as shown inv Figure 2. Theintermediate spiders 1li :are not clamped to these stems but merelyreceive them in their hook-lileportions. Itis apparent from aninspection of Figure 2 that the bristles of the brushes intermesh whenthe brushes are assembled as shown.

It is 'to be noted particularly that an ordinary, simple type of brushmay be employed whose'trunnion or stem 15 consists merely'of :tr pair-oftwisted wires of the usual construcion.

It is to beV noted that in the machine illustrated four ofthecylindricalbrushes are carried in each group and twoV groups ofbrushes are formedon each shaft. Obviously, 'any number ofgroups7 or any numbero-fbrushes, i

maybe employed withoutdeparting from the spi-rit of this invention. itis preferable'howevery to stagger the brushes of an upper and lowergroup,A as shown in FigureQ, so that when one of the lower brushes isuppermost, the adjacent upper brushes are positioned on opposite sidesthereof. The brushes are so arranged that the lupper group isapproximately tangent to the lower group, as shown in Figure 1. f Y

It isto be noted that the lower shieldet is yextended.inwardly Atoprovide an upwardly 'concave bottom shield k17. rlfhisbottom shield visprovided withy a pluralityof narrow'slots or openings 18 at its lowestpoint which allows water from the bottom of the casing 1 to passupwardly to the brushes. The brushes rotate in the direction indicatedby the arrows 'and sweep-this water rapidly from the shield plateand'carry it to: the vegetables which are rae Y Unir] slaagt-n77.7.1771. l l

being scrubbed by the machine. The vegetables are not struck by smooth,cylindrical surfaces of the brushes but are struck by brushes ofdifferent height, as measured from the center of their respective mainshafts 8 and 9. Thus, a thorough washing is secured and one which ismore effective than has heretofore been found possible with machinescrubbers or washers. Also, it is obvious that the casing may be made tocontain water, if desired, or at all events, it is intended to receivewater in its lower portion.

In using' our improved washer, the casing is to be positioned within atub or other receptacle having wat-er therein, which will be passedupwardly into the casing after it enters through the slots or openings18.

The-motor 11 is started for imparting a r0- tating movement to theseries of brushes mounted upon the shafts 8 and 9, the rotative movementof said brushes carrying the water upwardly from within the shield orguard plate 17. The vegetables which are preferably bunclied for'marketing are cleansed by inserting the vegetables between the brushesat the open side of the casing.

It will be apparent that after a certain period of constant use, theindividual brushes through contact with the vegetables and each au otherwill be worn off to a certain extent, and in order to'adjust thesurfaces of the brushes, the set screws 13 are loosened to permitrotative movement of each individual brush within the hook portions ofthe end spiders 12, so that a new scrubbing surface may be presentedoutwardly.

It will be seen that a very simple form of vegetable washer has beenprovided which is easy to construct, which does not require a thick ordeep casing as no guard plates are positioned within the casing, andwhich is so constructed that there is Vno possible chance of sprayingthe operator by water thrown from the brushes. v Although the inventionhas been described in considerable detail, such description is intendedas illustrative rather than limiting as the invention may be variouslyembodied and as the scope of such invention is to be determined asclaimed.

We claim:

1. In a vegetable washing machine, the combination of a casing, a pairof parallel shafts projectinginto said casing', fixed bearingssupporting said shafts, and a plurality of brushes carried by each ofsaid shafts an d individually adjustable with respect to theircorrespondingshafts, each of said brushes being cylindrical with theiraxes paralleling of a casing, a pair of parallel shafts projecting intosaid casing, spiders carried by said shafts, a plurality of brushesassociated with i5 each shaft and having centrally disposed stemscarried by said spiders, and means for releasably locking said spidersand trimnions together, whereby said brushes may be rotated tocompensate for wear and again locked to said spiders.

3. In a vegetable washer, the combination of a casing, a pair ofparallel shafts projecting` into said casing, spiders carried by saidshafts, a plurality of cylindrical brushes associated with each shaftand having centrally disposed stems carried by said spiders, and meansfor releasably locking said spiders and trunnions together, whereby saidbrushes may be rotated to compensate for wear and again locked to saidspiders, the brushesfor each shaft having intermeshing bristles.

1. A vegetable washer comprising a casing having an open front andadapted to receive a supply of water in its lower portion, a pair ofparallel horizontal shafts projecting into said casing, brushes carriedby said shafts, and a shield located below the lower of said brushes andspaced from the bottom of said casing, said shield being concaveupwardly and having a restricted passage in its lower portion for thepassage of water, said shield continuing outwardly beyond the front faceof said casing and being bent inwardly, the rear edge of said shieldbeing spaced inwardly from the rear of said casing.

5. A vegetable washer comprising a casing having an open front andadapted to receive a supply of water in its lower portion, a pair ofparallel horizontal shafts projecting into said casing, brushes carriedby said shafts, and a. shield located below the lower of said brushesand spaced from the bottom of said casing, said shield being concaveupwardly andhaving a restricted passage in its lower portion for thepassage of water, said shield continuing outwardly beyond the front faceof said casing and being bent inwardly, the rear edge of said shieldbeing spaced inwardly from the rear ofsaid casing, and an upperdownwardly projecting shieldcarried by and projecting. beyond the frontface of said casing.

y6. A vegetable washer comprising a casing having an open front andadapted to receive a supply of water in its lower portion, a pair ofparallel horizontal shafts projecting into said casing, brushes carriedby said shafts, and a shield located below the lower of said brushes andspaced from the bottom of said casing, said Shield being concaveupwardly and having a restricted passage in its lower portion for thepassage of water, said shield continuing outwardly beyond the front faceof said casing and being' bent inwardly, then rear'edge'of saidV shieldbeing spaced inwardly froin the rear of said casing, and an upperdownwardly projecting shield carried by and projecting beyondv the fiontface of said casing, said upper shield having an inwardly bent lowerportion.

7. In a Vegetable Washing machine, the combination of a casing, a pairof parallel shafts projecting into the casing, and a plurality ofbrushes carried by each of said shafts and each brush being rotatablyadjustable, independent of their corresponding shafts.

8. A vegetable washer comprising a casing having an opening in one wallthereof, rotatable brushes in said casing, a curved shield below saidbrushes with the major portion thereof arranged in the casing and formedwith a plurality of openings, the outer edge of said shield beingcontinued outwardly through the opening beyond the wall of the casingand curved upwardly and inwardly.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsat Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

ALFRED G. SUELFLOl/V. CHARLES WOLFGRD.

